Orosco claims 4A 220-pound title; Cooper 2nd in 3-2-1A

Monday

Otto Orosco of Ulysses was the top performer at the Class 4A State Wrestling tournament Saturday in Salina at the Bicentennial Center.

The Tiger senior earned a 5-1 decision over Jon Yates of Buhler to claim the title at 220 pounds.

"He wrestled really well," Ulysses coach Joe Gonzales said of Orosco's performance. "We weren't expecting to see (Yates) in the final, but we were pretty confident going into the finals match since we've seen Yates twice this year and beat him both times."

The most recent matchup for these two was last week in the regional finals, and Gonzales said Orosco handled him well in the state final despite Yates' knowledge of what moves to avoid this time around.

The top seed out of the Colby regional, Orosco pinned Chandler Carter of DeSoto in just 57 seconds in his semifinal to get to the title match.

He started the tournament Friday with a pin over Chris Betzen of Andale in just 37 seconds. Orosco won a 10-3 decision over Tanner Foulk of Osawatomie in the quarterfinals. He finished the season at 33-3.

It was an improved showing for Orosco from just a year ago, when he finished fifth. He was injured his first two seasons, so the last two seasons have been a rewarding, albeit short, high school career.

"He's a wrestling-minded kid whose been doing this all his life. Getting to state last year obviously helped his confidence," Gonzales said.

Zach Miller was the Tigers' only other medalist, placing fifth at 120 pounds.

Holton won the team title with 114 points. Ulysses finished ninth with 49 after qualifying seven of its nine varsity wrestlers.

"Overall, we wrestled pretty well," Gonzales said. "We had a couple of disappointing losses where we could have battled a little better."

Scott City's Warren Kropp finished third at 170 pounds. Kropp won a 3-2 decision over Blake Hampton of Shawnee Heights. After losing his opening round by a fall, Kropp decisioned his way through the backside matches to claim his bronze medal. Teammate James Jurgens lost his first two matches at 126. Hugoton's Brad Campbell was fifth at 195 and was the lone Eagles' representative at the state this year.

Class 3-2-1A

At Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays, AJ Cooper of Cimarron was the highest area placer in the Class 3-2-1A state tournament.

The Bluejay junior was runner-up at 195 pounds, losing to undefeated Tristan Speer of Troy, 6-1, in the championship bout.

Cooper won his first round with a 16-2 major decision and his quarterfinal with a 10-3 decision. He defeated Quentin Clark of Minneapolis 3-0 in the semifinals.

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